There is nothing like frogs waking up after a long, cold winter.
Haiku 19
April 19, 2025
Chorus frogs trilling
Spring peepers singing backup
We won’t sleep tonight
Haiku 18 — April 18, 2025
I came up to Wisconsin for a few days and this is what was waiting for me. The piers aren’t in yet for summer. No motors, no kayaks, no echoed shouts. Just this. And a loon. And a little rain. The quiet.
Haiku 18
April 18, 2025
Sometimes I listen
to the sky talking out loud
The lake answers back
Haiku 17 — April 17, 2025
In case we needed a nudge, today is National Haiku Poetry Day! Maybe give one a go. Don’t worry about getting it just right. Think of it as play…
Haiku 17
April 17, 2025
Slow down! Kids Playing
The rules of the race are wrong
If we’re left behind
Haiku 16 — April 16, 2025
Haiku 16
April 16, 2025
I’ve lost track of time
The moon’s gold watch reminds me
Today has gone by
Haiku 15 — April 15, 2025
Haiku 15
April 15, 2025
Heavy with hurry
Rush hour on the river
Rowers catch and stroke
Haiku 14 — April 14, 2025
The news is overwhelming today. It is so hard to believe that so many people — so many people with power and privilege — are unwilling to speak up for what’s right.
Haiku 14
April 14
Shadows build a fence,
revealing what’s in the way —
An absence of light
Haiku 13 — April 13, 2025
An attack on libraries is an attack on free, unfettered access to information, an attack on literacy and lifelong learning, an attack on personal and community vitality, an attack on democracy, an attack on art, an attack on truth, an attack on human joy and connection.
It is bad enough that we (in the U.S.) saw more than 10,000 books banned during the 2023-24 school year, and that the federal government is dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Tomorrow, the Texas House of Representatives State Affairs Committee will debate HB3225, a mind-boggling piece of legislation that cracks down on access to (and the content within) public libraries.
In wild overreach, HB3225 fails to clearly define ‘sexually explicit,’ fails to differentiate between 3 and 13 and 16 year olds, and fails to offer parents an opt in or opt out option. HB3225 would force public libraries to surveill their entire collections and keep young people out of whole sections of every library in the state.
I remember when my girls got their library cards, and how proud they were, carrying the tall, wobbly stacks of books that they’d sound out, share, re-read and fall in love with. Those cards — those books — are part of the people they’ve become. Each generation of kids deserves that same head start, that same empowerment, that same thrill.
Haiku 13
April 13, 2025
The doors wide open,
stacks alive and generous:
we all belong here
Haiku 12 — April 12, 2025
Haiku 12
April 12, 2025
Leather coat, pink throat,
aggressive gym bro push-ups?
He’s a real stand-out!
Haiku 10 — April 10, 2025
Well, y’all, I am beside myself. An owl arrived in our owl box today! We’ve had a box for five or six years, and this is our third owl; in other words, the odds are good but not at all guaranteed.
These are brave and curious little Eastern Screech-Owls. They look like tree bark, only cuter (sorry, trees) and they’re out surveying the place at daybreak and dusk. When the sun’s high, they sleep inside the box, and when it’s nearly dark, they take off, looking for love.
Here’s how I know Owl 3.0 arrived just today: I never (and I mean never, not even during owl off-season) get out of my car without looking up at the box. Just in case. And this evening, I pulled into the driveway, opened my door, swung my left leg out and looked up. Behold!!
Haiku 10
April 10, 2025
He’s waiting, alert
like the flag on a mailbox
I feign nonchalance
Haiku 9 — April 9, 2025
I love games, from dominoes to cards to Pictionary. When we were kids, my cousins and I spent a zillion summer hours playing Kick-the-Can, Sardines, Spoons and — my ultimate favorite — Hearts. I remember a particular vacation with my in-laws completely dominated by an intensely competitive Spite-and-Malice bracket. And even now, my husband and I almost always keep up a running gin tournament while traveling.
I’m not saying I’m a professional or anything, but I’ve had practice and I like to think that I usually get the rules and the strategies and… the point. Well, y’all? Last night, I began the process of learning Mahjong, and I Am Humbled. The sweet, patient woman teaching us kept saying things like, “It’s ok if you don’t understand this yet” and … um… thank you!
Still, by the end of the night I could imagine how a person might get good and hooked. Not saying that I am or will be, but the beauty of the tiles, the movement around the table, the building of a perfectly prescribed line? Definitely worth another night of it, at least.
Haiku 9
April 9, 2025
Tiles clack like birds
wing-to-wing along a wall
singing krak, dot, bam